Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

When she picked up her basket, she was surprised to realize that she had forgotten about the goat milk fruit she had picked for the children.

She hurriedly took it out and handed it to Muqin, repeatedly instructing her to make sure it was thoroughly cleaned before eating.

The two little girls gazed at the bright red fruits, which resembled sparkling gems, and their hearts were filled with joy.

Especially Mu Yao, that little girl, didn't forget to remind her grandmother and mother to be careful going up the mountain and to return soon.

The two dared not venture too far, and searched on the mountain behind the courtyard. Perhaps it was not yet the season for mushrooms to grow in abundance, so they searched the entire area before finally finding a basketful.

However, Wang Qing'er discovered many other treasures, including leaves from a dove tree, a fruit tree, several pepper trees, and countless prickly ash trees.

The dove tree's leaves had just sprouted tender shoots, as delicate as newborn babies; the ice jelly fruit had just blossomed, like a shy young girl; the pepper tree had also just started to bloom, and she picked some of its leaves.

While picking the leaves, she discovered that some pepper trees still had peppercorns that had ripened last year hanging on their branches.

Wang Qing'er picked some and smelled them. The rich aroma of Sichuan peppercorns seemed like a gift from nature. So she picked them all, estimating that they weighed more than two pounds. After taking them back and drying them, she could add a unique seasoning.

The prickly pears had just begun to bloom, and Wang Qing'er had memorized their locations, waiting to harvest them when they were ripe.

The leaves of the Turtledove tree should be ready to be harvested in a while, at which time you can try making leaf tofu, which will be a mouthwatering delicacy.

In addition, Wang Cuiying also dug up a lot of Solomon's Seal. This thing grows strong and can weigh several kilograms in one clump. With just five or six plants, Wang Cuiying's basket was filled to the brim.

Wang Qing'er only recognized a few common medicinal herbs, such as Panax notoginseng, Gastrodia elata, dandelion, Plantago asiatica, and Bupleurum chinense, because her neighbors used to grow these herbs.

She had only heard of Huangjing (Polygonatum sibiricum), but had never seen it in person. If her mother-in-law hadn't recognized it, she probably would have missed it entirely.

She was curious; how did her mother-in-law know these medicinal herbs? "Mother, how do you know these medicinal herbs?"

Wang Cuiying explained, "Actually, I don't know them either. Mu Nan knows them. He often digs up medicinal herbs, dries them, and sells them. I've seen them a lot, so I recognize some of them."

"Oh." Wang Qing'er suddenly remembered that there were several books on the bedside table in their room, one of which seemed to be related to medicinal herbs.

Since arriving at this home, she's been exhausted every day, and after taking a shower, she goes straight to bed and falls asleep, paying no special attention to the books on her bedside table.

It seems I should take a good look at this when I have some free time.

Seeing that they could no longer find mushrooms in this area, and that their baskets were already full with only two empty ones left, the two decided to turn back, searching for mushrooms as they went.

After all, two weak women dared not venture deep into these mountains and forests. If they encountered ferocious beasts, they would truly be lambs to the slaughter.

"Mother, whose land is that?" Wang Qing'er asked Wang Cuiying, pointing to a piece of wasteland overgrown with Chinese toon trees on her right.

"Oh! That piece of land was originally intended to be reclaimed by your Uncle Wang's family in the village, but they found that there were too many Chinese toon trees there, making it too difficult to dig, so they had no choice but to give up."

"Then wouldn't that be unclaimed land?" Wang Qing'er was delighted to hear that it was unclaimed. "Mother, let's pick some toon leaves and stir-fry them with eggs!"

"You can eat that too?"

"Yes! Aren't you eating it?"

"Nobody here eats that."

"Alright." Wang Qing'er didn't say anything more and walked straight to the grove of Chinese toon trees. It was the season when the Chinese toon trees were budding, and she was drooling as she thought about the delicious stir-fried eggs with Chinese toon.

Every branch of the Chinese toon tree is covered with lush, tender green buds. When a gentle breeze blows, the buds sway merrily on the branches.

Without saying a word, Wang Qing'er, like a nimble little monkey, kept pulling on the tree trunk and breaking it. The "crackling" sounds rose and fell, as if a beautiful concert was being performed. In no time, she had broken off a large handful.

At this moment, Wang Cuiying also came over carrying a basket. "Qing'er, how much do you want to pick?"

"Mother, I want to pick more so that Father can take them to the restaurant to sell tomorrow. It's the season for toon sprouts now; they'll get too old to eat later. These can also be dried and preserved."

“Okay, I’ll fill these two baskets and take the stuff back. I’ll also bring two more baskets. We can harvest quite a lot from this area.” Wang Cuiying now completely believed Wang Qing’er’s words. If she said something was delicious, it was definitely incredibly delicious.

"Okay." Wang Qing'er agreed verbally, her hands still busy plucking the buds. She only picked the ones that were more than ten centimeters long, leaving the smaller ones to grow on the tree and picking them a few days later, so that she could have fresh toon buds to sell every day.

With such a large grove of Toona sinensis trees, the fresh Toona sinensis buds can be sold for a while. However, today we need to pick the Toona sinensis buds that are about to mature in the grove, blanch them, and then dry them for preservation.

When her mother-in-law went back to get her basket, Wang Qing'er piled the toon sprouts she had broken off onto the grass.

When Wang Cuiying returned, she saw a pile of toon sprouts on the ground. "Oh! Qing'er, you've picked so many?"

"Mom, these toon sprouts are quick to pick. If you pack these up, the two baskets will be full."

"Should we continue picking the rest?" Wang Cuiying squatted down and carefully placed the toon sprouts on the ground into the basket.

"Of course we have to pick them! We must thoroughly clean up this grove of Chinese toon trees today and break off all the big ones, otherwise the taste will be greatly reduced when they get old."

"Wow! We have to pick such a big piece of fruit. I'll quickly call Muqin over to help and bring a few more baskets. Luckily, we live nearby. You two can pick the fruit, and I'll carry it home."

"Okay, then thank you for your hard work, Mom!"

Although there are many Chinese toon trees, fortunately they are not very tall, so they are easy to break off.

When the mother and her two children arrived home, the sun was still high in the sky, like a blazing fireball.

As they entered the courtyard, Wang Qing'er immediately noticed the mountain of sugarcane piled up under the eaves, indicating that the three of them had already picked out a portion.

The sun has been shining brightly these past few days, and the mushrooms and bamboo shoots that were initially harvested have all been dried.

Wang Qing'er rummaged through the storeroom and found two spotless bags. She packed the dried bamboo shoots and dried mushrooms into the bags, then sealed them tightly to prevent moisture from getting in. Finally, she placed them on the shelf in the storeroom.

Bamboo shoots can be harvested for a while longer, and in addition to supplying restaurants, more bamboo shoots can be dried.

Once the fresh bamboo shoot season is over, dried bamboo shoots can be sold to restaurants.

The temperature is currently relatively low, so mushrooms have not yet grown on a large scale.

As the weather warms up, the variety of mushrooms will increase like mushrooms after a spring rain.

By then, the restaurants certainly won't need that many mushrooms. They can dry them and keep them for winter sale, or make some delicious mushroom sauce to sell.